Firearms are ubiquitous in the United States and tragic events related to accidental or unintentional discharge of these firearms are a subject of much concern to the populous as a whole. In one such tragedy, a young mother was killed while shopping when her two year old toddler accidently discharged a firearm. In this example, the mother was licensed to carry the firearm and it was stored in a zipped pocket of the mother's purse. This pocket was specifically designed for carrying concealed firearms, but the toddler unzipped the pocket and retrieved the concealed firearm before causing the discharge of one fatal round.
The problem of accidental firearm discharge is particularly acute in the context of personal defense firearms because these firearms are generally designed for concealment and to fire quickly and easily. In particular, firearms for personal defense are usually designed with limited safety features so that a user can quickly and easily fire rounds in response to an unexpected threat which makes personal defense firearms inherently less safe than firearms for hunting or recreational activities. In other words, reducing a risk of accidental discharge can increase a risk that a personal defense firearm will not be effective when used for self-defense. For example, storing a personal defense firearm separate from its ammunition would greatly reduce the risk that the firearm will discharge accidently; however, this would also increase an amount of time and effort involved in preparing the firearm to discharge the ammunition in response to an identified threat.
Conventional personal defense systems typically support rudimentary safety measures to prevent unintentional discharge. These conventional personal defense firearms may include a “safety” which can refer to any single means of prevention of an accidental discharge but which commonly refers to a minimum magnitude of an applied force to actuate a trigger or a button which can be actuated to release a lock. However, because of concerns that the firearm will not be effective when it is used for personal protection, many users carry firearms with the available safety features disengaged. This tends to further increase accident rates related to personal defense firearms. While the number of known accidents is significant, an actual number of unintentional discharges of these types of firearms is not known since “near-miss” scenarios are frequently not reported.
This problem is compounded by the nature of personal defense in that incidents involving use of a firearm for protection are largely unpredictable. Because of this unpredictability, personal defense firearms are typically worn by a user or stored in close proximity to the user. As a result, an amount user interaction, both intended and unintended, with personal defense firearms is substantially greater than an amount of user interaction with firearms intended for recreational use. The significant amount of time that users interact with their personal defense firearms creates a demand for lighter, smaller, and concealable firearm designs. However, these features can also create situations which may increase a risk of unintentional discharge.
For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0242329 to Carr et al. (hereinafter “Carr”) describes a compact foldable handgun. Carr describes that a handgrip is movable between a firing position and a storage position and that the handgrip can pivot relative to a frame. Can's handgrip is also movable along the frame in a direction aligned with a barrel. The design described by Can utilizes both rotational and axial movement of the handgrip to move between the firing position and the storage position. Can's ammunition is exposed in the storage position and Cares design is capable of discharging in both the firing position and the storage position.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0377361 to Osborne (hereinafter “Osborne”) describes a collapsible pistol. Osborne describes a pistol which may be opened into a ready-to-fire position with a single hand. Osborne further describes that manipulation of the pistol into and out of the open, ready-to-fire position can be accomplished by a user having relatively small hands and/or relatively low grip strength. Thus, Osborne presents an example of design features for quick and easy operation of a personal defense firearm but which also increase a risk that the firearm may be unintentionally discharged by a child.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0321981 to Voigt (hereinafter “Voigt”) describes a folding pocket pistol. Voigt describes that the design of the pocket pistol is for the purpose of being easily carried and stored without resembling a firearm. The design described by Voigt is capable of discharging in both the folded and the unfolded configuration.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0356710 to Full (hereinafter “Full I”) describes a folding compact pistol. Full I describes that a handle actuates relative to a frame and also rotates relative to the frame to fold the pistol. Full I's ammunition is exposed in the folded position and Full I's design is capable of discharging in both the folded position and the unfolded position.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0033026 to Full (hereinafter “Full II”) describes a folding pistol. Full II describes modifications to an existing pistol which detaches a handgrip of the existing pistol from a frame of the existing pistol. Full II further describes a grip is movable between an extended position in which the pistol is operable and a stowed position in which the free end of the grip is adjacent to the frame. Full II's ammunition is exposed in the stowed position and Full II's design is capable of discharging in both the extended position and the storage position.
Thus, these conventional personal defense firearms suffer from a variety of challenges that may render the firearms unsafe in practice. Conventional systems designed specifically for concealment have increased risks of unintentional or accidental discharge. Further, many of the conventional firearms have sacrificed safety features in favor designs that are quick to operate and easy to discharge. Moreover, conventional firearms are typically capable of being operated by a small child such as the toddler in the tragic example above. Specifically, a small child that has the coordination, strength, and reach to operate the conventional systems may be able to unintentionally discharge a round intended for use in personal defense.